The University of Ottawa’s Pierre Pariseau-Legault was a recipient of one of the 2018 Council of Ontario University Programs in Nursing (COUPN) Awards, receiving the Doctoral Dissertation Award for his examination into the sexuality of people with intellectual disabilities. His thesis has been described by faculty as “among the best dissertations [they] have read in [their] respective careers.”

In exploring this important but often ignored topic, Pierre’s work has been heralded for giving nurses the tools to better understand the sexual lives of people with intellectual disabilities, and to see them as more than just vulnerable people. His work advances the concept of care in clinical nursing practice, nursing ethics and nursing research. Pierre has been published based on the findings of his dissertation and he is working with graduate students to further this area of study.

“These awards demonstrate the role of Ontario’s universities as partners in a better future, through the delivery of high-quality nursing education that contributes to the health care system, helping Ontarians lead healthier and longer lives."